Fascinated by the Nazarene but unimpressed by religion!

I’m Dylan Morrison, an Irish writer and poet, now living in the historic, cathedral city of Lincoln, England. I write for all who are seeking a holistic spirituality, one that will satisfy the deep longing for authentication and Love that lies at the centre of their being.

For much of my early life I lived as an extremely zealous, quasi-radical Charismatic Christian, before walking away from it all following the tragic cot death of my first-born, baby son, Ben. Seventeen years later Divine Love unexpectedly gate-crashed my semi- agnostic party, visiting me in my driven anger by means of two mystical experiences. I suppose you could call me a recovering, religious junkie of sorts!

I believe that the ‘Abba’ or Divine Parent of Yeshua bar Yosef, is the Ocean in which we swim – the answer to our deepest longings viz, those for Love, belonging and wholeness.

Mysticism is rarely spoken of in the commercially driven marketplace of modern Christianity. The experience of Spirit or Sacred Breath has largely been replaced by a quasi-religion more akin to the razzle-dazzle entertainment industry than an authentic, practical spirituality.

I hope that you’ll be encouraged as you join me in my continuing openness to and discussion of our Spirit encounters. As we let our religious preconceptions fall away we’ll discover that the reality of Divine Love will bubble up to meet us in our weakness and pain.

If you’d like to get in touch I can be emailed at dylanmorrison@live.co.uk

Share this:

Like this:

63 Responses

I met you (or your comments) on Naked Pastor’s blog. That was 2 hours ago. I am half way through your book now.

Is there a way to correspond with you through email? if so, please email me.

20 years in mnistry, crossroads, etc. you know the story. I’d like to bounce some things off you. I share your love for psychology. I never thought I’d find another evangelical (or ex) who liked Rene Girard! Thanks.
Andy

Great to know there are other Girard readers out there in cyberspace. I began to think that it was only the French who appreciated his work. He hit every nail on my confused head when I left Evangelical land behind. A writer every post-evangelical should read!

I just finished reading your book this morning. I resonated with so much (we are the same age and I was in Southern California during the 70s) of your experience. I am grateful Papa brought you to comment on my blog (I have no idea how you might have wandered over there otherwise!), as I judge those books/blogs that I am to read by whether, in fact, I am able to read them. Papa has provided both time and inclination, which is somewhat of a miracle it of it itself!

Though my experience does not include charismatics, I have many dear brothers and sisters who have … and I have come to embrace the reality that there is room for great diversity in the way Papa comes to us and how Jesus walks with us and how the Holy Spirit teaches and leads us.

I have come through a path that is challenging as well and I appreciate your sharing of the journey you have been on. I pray that Papa will continue to bless you and your family and lead you each step of the Great Dance to which we have been loving invited.

Peggy
Thanks for your kind words. I’m glad you got something from my story The Prodigal Prophet. It was a painful book to write and at times my previous spiritual incarnation seemed like a dream or perhaps more accurately a nightmare. Looking back though I can see the Divine hand in it all and the Love that knew exactly when to come in and re-engage with me. The pearl that is formed in such a journey is wisdom, a much neglected gift that is often neglected within organized religion. The cost is too much for some who prefer to live off the desire of a charismatic preacher who seems to give them life!
A religious parasite I suppose if one is to be blunt honest. I have compassion for such folk for I was among their number in a big way. Somehow the Divine gets shunted off to the side as we ride the wave of a new movement within Christendom. Thankfully Abba is there to pick us up and smother us with His Presence when we fall into the swirling tide that seems to threaten our very existence. Once we’ve hit rock bottom we can never be satisfied with anything else the religious world sells in the spiritual marketplace.

My favourite mystic Gerhard Tersteegen writes

Am I not enough, Mine own?
Enough Mine own, for thee?
Hath the world its palace towers,
Garden glades of magic flowers,
Where thou fain wouldst be?
Fair things and false are there,
False things but fair.
All shalt thou find at last,
Only in Me
Am I not enough Mine own?
I, for ever and alone,
I needing thee?

Peggy I trust that we and many others can be the conveyors of such Divine sentiments to those broken and damaged by religious ideology of whatever hue. Peggy may the Divine Love flow through you to those whom Abba brings your way!

Good Morning from Colorado. I just had to come see who you are, what you write because I just “liked you” on FB. Glad I came. It’s always refreshing to meet a fellow traveler. The theme photo of the person (you?) walking alone across a void struck a chord. That’s exactly what my life feels like. Many blessings!
~pam

Great to have a fellow traveler drop by. The Journey Home is filled with many souls seeking Source and the peace that He brings. Originally followers of Yeshua were known as the Way – I just want to be someone who lets Spirit intimacy be the guiding Light on such a Journey. Glad you liked the art by David Hayward, ‘The Naked Pastor’. I think you might like his Sophia sketches at his site.

May all that The Lord has placed on your heart to accomplish Dylan occur effortlessly as you fulfill your destiny in kind…Blessings abound with the Love of Jesus on my Hear, Clare…Margaret Clare Elizabeth, Story Teller…

Dylan, so glad to find you and others on this site! I am so starved to share and learn with other seekers! I’m in the Seattle area.

References to “mysticism” crack me up, as if the ritualized comings and goings in Churchianity were the norm. “Mysticism” is considered by many as a fringe experience requiring a special sort or something. Just how, exactly, would a living experience of divine reality otherwise be than “mystical?” How would an intimate relationship with my lover otherwise be than sensual and orgasmic? How would a real, not feigned, experience of suffering not involve pain and grief that are deeply felt?

It’s like Christians are supposed to mechanically mimic the results of contact with God and Jesus, but rarely experience contact with them and its power or feel their presence except under specially choreographed circumstances. The choreography is great if it leads to contact. I really wonder if direct contact with God is the real point for most people. It’s like they spend all their time kissing the road that led them home instead of going inside. Holding to a form of godliness, but denying its power. What we need is power. We’ve had way too much talk.

Anyway, glad to be here. You’ll hear from me as I read through your pieces. Great to make your acquaintance! 🙂

Thanks for your most perceptive comment Millard. Great to have someone here from the home of Starbucks!

Yes indeed; how can passion and feeling be divorced from Divine encounter? It can’t.

Our modern religion is concept based and not experiential. That’s why many folks head off to the Mind, Body, Spirit world where there is much more emphasis on ‘encounters’.

I love your take on religious choreography; I’ve danced a few times in that over my previous charismatic evangelical incarnation. Sometimes Spirit does turn up for encounter; most times not. Personally I believe that so called ‘worship leaders’ have got in the way.

“When your heart is filled with love, there is no room for anything else, and it will beat and pulse this love through your whole being. With this circulating force within you, you create your destiny, and you know it must be filled with that same love” ~ Leonard Farber

Namaste elevates one’s consciousness, reminding one that all beings, all existence is holy, is the Almighty. It communicates, “I honor or worship the Divinity within you.”
We are All one~In Love & Trust~Except everyone for who they truly are~no matter what their beliefs~We All have a gift to share for the greater good of all~Lets end the suffering & ignorance~With this thought~what we think we create~*

Hi Lisa thanks for dropping by and posting this encouraging comment. Yes, once we discover that we are swimming in a Divine ocean, the search comes to an end. Only then does for the true realisation of who I am become clear. A son of sacred Love. Beliefs are only road maps – it took me many years to discover this; reality is being carried along in the Divinw waters of Spirit.

Thank-you for sharing my friend. What a wonderful blog. Love talking about awakening and spirit encounters. I have been meeting multi-dimensional beings since a child. Is a great journey. Much love to you xoxo

Thanks Liza. Yes, there is more to Heaven and Earth than meets the eye of consciousness. Thankfully, Divine Love holds it all in its Hand. May the Awakenings continue for all of us on the path of Life.

Hello again Dylan,
Thank you for contacting me. I have always felt that the available stories about Jesus were somehow incomplete. When I was just four years old, I heard, at Easter, the story of the crucifixion, and I was seized with tears beyond my comprehension. I wasn’t old enough to have had an understanding of what I was hearing on the radio. Apparently I sobbed for hours to my parent’s dismay. Something however touched me very deeply and I have searched for meaningful information about Jesus ever since. I have read about Buddhism, Taoism and Zen Buddhism and I tend to think that the answer to the story of Jesus may be hidden in these religio/philosophies. But I still have not found any evidence to support any substantial revelations of the true Jesus. Thanks for reading. Sat Nam!

Thanks for dropping by and sharing our common fascination with Yeshua, the Nazarene. I too have searched for the historical Yeshua – it’s a journey of many twists and turns. Eventually I believe we return to the ‘Christ of faith’, not the Christianised variety perhaps but one that ties in with our own spiritual encounters and the Voice within. I too love some aspects of Zen and especially the concept of the Tao. I suspect that Yeshua may have been the embodiment of the Tao/Logos as John the Divine, seemed to suggest. There is much in common with some of the Eastern traditions but the whole death and claimed resurrection thing still enshrouds Yeshua with something that the Eastern traditions cannot fully explain. The Galilean is, I believe unique in religious/spiritual history but not in the way that is normally sold to the masses. I guess I’ll follow Him beyond death – perhaps that’s where we’ll only truly discover His ‘I am’ness.

After a brief detour to the UK Amazon site, I found your book on the USA version of it and purchased it for my Kindle. Glad to see you’re among the bunch moving a few books via Amazon. Thanks for your site and i look forward to reading.
Peace,
David

Thanks for dropping by! Indeed there are many of us now on this post-organised, dogma-based Path. I reckon it was always intended to be the Way Home. The human heart responding to the whisper of Divine Love within and without!

I love the fact that you are writing about this topic because religion DOESN’T talk about the mystical teachings of Yeshua. I think the church is out to destroy everyone who claims to has had mystical experiences because it takes power away from the pastor.

Hi Geary. Thanks for dropping by. Yes, I believe that institutional religion of whatever shade isn’t to keen on mystics, denouncing them as rebellious, mad or even heretical. Such an attitude is usually born out of fear – fear, as you say, of losing control of devotees or indeed a fear of Divine Love itself. There is not alot of intimacy around the controllers of religious thought and practice. At least that’s my take on it to date.

Reading through some of the comments I noticed one about printed books. Ever tried LULU.com? They are a print-on-demand online book publishing company. I am in the middle of writing a book about ancient Irish/English spiritual training and they are pretty reasonable.
Apart from that I am going to check out your online book!!! I love reading about how others came to their beliefs after struggling with accepted beliefs. In my view spirituality is far preferable to religion as it is open and accepting of all paths. I have struggled my whole life with religion, having grown up in Ireland and having been educated in a convent!! Now I live in Egypt and am struggling to understand Islam and the psyche of the people who profess to follow it. It is interesting to say the least!!!

Lovely to hear from you gm. I can totally understand your take on traditional religion, particularly Irish Catholicism. Weird things have been going on there for a long time. A lack of honesty and brokenness turns me off I’m afraid. Yes Islam is a most interesting if baffling mix. I like the Sufi take on things but there again to be mystical within establisshed belief systems does cause many problems. What is the bottom line? Belief or experience?

Being Irish I think you might just like The Prodigal Prophet, even though it’s written from my evangelical charismatic Protestant background.Religion’s effects are the same on both sides of the supposed divide, so hopefully my little tale will resonate with you.

Thanks for dropping by Gaby. Glad some of my writing resonated with you. Looking forward to your future input.
My wee book’s on Amazon but only in Kindle format at present due to problems with the paperback version. Hopefully Amazon will get the paperback back again soon.

We (my wife and I along with a number of close friends) are on a roller coaster spiritual journey desperately holding on to Jesus.
As ‘adult converts’ with limited baggage I think we are individually and collectively at a place of glorious but frustrated confusion! My wife has just finished the Prodigal Prophet and has been keeping me informed of your journey which she recognises in our own. I am about to start it.

However ‘beginning with the end in mind’ from the last chapter I sense the place you have reached has a landscape which I recognise, am excited about and want to explore!

The reason for writing to you at this time is a practical one of timing.

A ‘Thesis’-
‘The Experience of being valued’…
(only) the person who receives and gives the experience of being valued can give and receive the best’.
I am attempting to capture the essence, elements and practical implications of this ‘thesis’ which has evolved over the past 20 years.

This is based on…
1. A desire to discover an alternative to ‘the positive mental attitude movement’ (not to be confused with the positive psychology movement). An alternative that would reflect the heart and mission of Jesus free from organised religious or evangelical language and dogma.

2. A case study from a transformed steel mill, Pitron Steel, in Pennsylvania in the 70’s.

3. Research by the Gallup Organization into the elements of organisational climate in the 90’s (Q12) and dominant thinking patterns ( StrengthsFinder).

4. The Whitehall Studies from a study by epidemiologists into the health of 25000 people over 20+ years.

5. The Happiness Manefesto.

6. Many encounters and observations between ‘Pittsburgh and Kigali’ including 2000 1/1 structured but free flowing ‘conversations’ designed to shine a light on the uniqueness and potential of each person. The conversation itself is designed to be an intentional ‘experience of being valued’.

7. Observations from three diverse organisations that represent communities that have experienced significant traumas* seeking to move from surviving to thriving.
(*Industrial decline, North Lanarkshire, Scotland, Genocide in Rwanda and, arguably, the biggest medical mistake in history, Thalidomide)

Your recent blog gives a fascinating analysis of ‘feelings’ and am looking forward to reflecting on your conclusions,
In the meantime I wanted to ‘plant another seed’ in your mind!

Thanks for dropping by. It sounds that both you and your wife are begining to encounter the inconsistencies and sharp bends on the Christian path. There comes a time when we all realise that something just doesn’t add up no matter how zealous we try to be.

I guess that’s why many only face their own doubts and misgivings when trauma does its worst. Perhaps the fruit of such pain is honesty, an honesty that takes us all on a new and more sensitive Way.

Great to hear of your studies on communities who resurrect following major crises to contribute something learned at the chalkface of loss.

Hope you enjoy The Prodigal Prophet. Feel free to pass it on to others who might relate to the roller coaster pilgrimage.

Hi…..this is my first time on a blog, and I have only JUST discovered Dylon the P.P. HURRAY!!! I just read some comments about the french writer Girard. Who is this guy and which book should one read first?
I also will read your book Dylan. LOOKING FORWARD TO THAT! I am ravenous to get some fresh input after being in a cage for TOO many years! I am a religious addict DETOXING! So any advice would be welcomed. I just saw the documentary called Hellbound, and now my suspicions have been mostly confirmed! Thank goodness!!! I know I have a long way to go as I do not even know who god is any more! But I’m pretty much convinced he is not “personal” like I thought.
Merci l! Mich

Hi Mich
Thanks for dropping by! I’m so glad that my posts are resonating with your own experience, one of detoxing from fundamentalist religion. It’s certainly a powerful drug, keeping its hold on us through fear of walking away from the Divine. Fortunately Divine Love never walks away from us and surrounds us even when we try and shake it off.Rene Girard is a guy worth reading but his stuff is quite difficult to get one’s head around. Coming form a Christian background I’d recommend his wee book ‘I Saw Satan Fall like Lightning’. After that try the ‘Girardian Reader’. They are a little expensive being academic books but they are full of pure gold for us recovering religious junkies.

Hi Dylan. Just found out about your book on Facebook. It was available this week on Amazon for my kindle app on my iPad. So read it yesterday. Thanks for sharing your journey with Papa, Yeshua and the Spirit. They are my best friends, our Creator loves us, and pursues us as he has you and me. I can resonate with many aspects of your journey although our own paths were a bit different in getting here. The more I just hang out with Papa who told me once that his whole goal for all eternity was just to “hang out with me” I am blown away more and more by His love. Blessings my brother!

Hi Lisa
Thanks for dropping by and posting the link to your wee blog.
I love to visit other blogs where folk are real about their faith journeys – yours fits the bill.
Lovely to meet you too.
Keep writing

I am fed by both Celtic Spirituality and Franciscan Spirituailty, the former as taught by John O’Donahue, the latter by Richard Rohr. But in the end it is the man, Jesus who teaches best through his very life. No matter what you call him, the Nazarene, an Islamic preference, or the Uber Mensch, what Nietzsche sought, the man, Jesus, carried the spirit of divinity within him, and gave us the good news that all humankind carries it as well. The mystical path to God has many roads, but in the end they all end in the same place.

I am really moved by what you write about. Do you ever guest write on other sites? Would you be interested in publishing an article on our magazine (with links back to this site & your book). Please get in touch if this something that may interest you.

Just “Namaste.” Thank you for being present at this time in a world that needs more mystics with voices to be heard and hearts whispering of Love.
And I am still sad about the world’s loss of John O’Donohue..

I’ve heard it said that the prayer commonly attributed to St. Francis was created by someone other than the great saint. Rather his favorite prayer was: Lord, who are you? And who am I, Lord. I love this prayer and say it each morning, hoping for an answer.

Thanks for dropping by Roger! Yes, many of us are on the same path, one that leads from the religious belief and practice of our youth into the more contemplative take on Divine Love and its operation in the world. Looking forward to your future thoughts and comments! 🙂 Dylan

Hey Dylan, Your comment on “Fascination” in ‘Matrix Messiah’ was pricelss! It really opened up many locked doors of my unconcious and consious mind. From a spiritual point of view it can be hazardous. Thank God for Rene Girard and you gleanings from learning about him. My fathers mother was born in Derry Ireland so theres a bit of ireland still floating around in my id! God Bless a friend in Tucson AZ.